Category Archives: Uncategorized

Posts from Antarctica: Staying Safe in the Field Part 3: Communications

We’re crossing our fingers that weather holds well enough at WAIS Divide to get a plane out there this evening, but our advance team is currently delayed until tomorrow (December 3rd). The earliest the rest of us will get out … Continue reading

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Posts from Antarctica: Staying Safe in the Field Part 2 – Safety and Crevasse Rescue Trainings

The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) primarily exists to support scientific research in Antarctica. In order to provide that support, one of their most important functions is to ensure the safety of all personnel involved in the research. Much of … Continue reading

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Posts from Antarctica: Staying Safe in the Field Part 1 – Staying Warm

Before I dive into the current topic, a quick update on our logistics: Our advance team was supposed to fly out on Wednesday, November 27, but between bad weather at WAIS Divide and the holiday weekend, they are now officially delayed … Continue reading

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Posts from Antarctica: Antarctic transportation

Antarctica is arguably the world’s most remote landmass. There are no human native Antarcticans; by the time homo sapiens emerged, Antarctica had long-since drifted south, been isolated by the Southern Ocean, and grown an ice sheet. Captain James Cook came … Continue reading

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Posts from Antarctica: Intro to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration and the TARSAN project

Greetings from McMurdo Station, Antarctica! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Karen Alley and I’m a visiting assistant professor in the College of Wooster Department of Earth Sciences. I’m a glaciologist and a remote sensor, … Continue reading

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New paper: Early Silurian recovery of Baltica crinoids following the end-Ordovician extinctions (Llandovery, Estonia)

It has been an absolute delight to work with the crinoid master Bill Ausich of The Ohio State University. He is not only one of the world’s top paleontologists, he’s a great guy. Bill taught me all I know about … Continue reading

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Wooster Records Wettest Year on Record

Last year around this time, I reported on this blog that Wooster had just completed its third wettest year on record. A year later, the “wettest year” record has been broken. With continuous record-keeping beginning in 1900 at the OARDC weather … Continue reading

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A new paper on the future of Antarctica’s Ice Shelves

Our group published a new paper today in Science Advances, which suggests that ice-flow models that predict future sea-level rise are missing an important process: Basal channels, which are “upside-down rivers” of buoyant water flowing along the undersides of ice … Continue reading

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A new paper on a cryptic crustoid graptolite from the Middle Ordovician of Estonia

I have long enjoyed exploring the Ordovician and Silurian rocks of Estonia with my Estonian friend Olev Vinn. We have done a lot of work together, and Estonia continues to provide fascinating fossils for our studies. Our circle of paleontologists … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologists at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America

Phoenix, Arizona — It was a small group of Wooster Geologists at the annual meeting of the GSA held in Phoenix last week. The very early date (about a month earlier than usual) and the consequently earlier abstract deadline reduced … Continue reading

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